EXCITING SUNDAY CAPS PERFECT WEEK AT 2003 Acura SORC

MIAMI BEACH, FL, March 2, 2003 - Following an exciting race in near perfect conditions, Sunday's results provided big wins for the Italian entries in the Farr 40 and Mumm 30 classes, and saw three classes decided by one point, on the final day of the 2003 Acura SORC sailed off Miami Beach, FL.

In the Farr 40 class, Massimo Mezzaroma's Nerone of Savon, Italy posted a fourth place finish to leapfrog past Hasso Plattner's Morning Glory of Novato, CA, who finished eighth in today's race, to claim the Farr 40 class title by two points.

"We knew what we had to do today to win," said Mezzaroma. "The Acura SORC is always a very competitive regatta and this year's fleet was no exception, we had some excellent races."

In the Mumm 30 class, Luigi Parente's Moby Maga Joanna, of Naples, FL, registered a third place finish which was enough to claim the class title ahead of Bent Dietrich's Rainbow of Hamburg, Germany, who finished second in today's race.

As further proof of the competitive atmosphere at the 2003 Acura SORC, three class titles, the J/105, Melges 24 and Multihulls crowns, were decided by just one point. In the J/105 class, Thomas Coates’ Masquerade of San Franscisco, CA, finished third in today's race, knocking runner-up Jim Sorenson's Wet Leopard of Sag Harbour, NY, out of the penthouse, to claim the 2003 title.

In the Multihulls, a win in today's race by Don Mcgetrid's, Team Raider US, of Miami, proved too little, too late as Peter Fruedenberg's, Condor, of Harvey Cedars, NJ, placed third today to wrap-up the class title.

In the Melges 24 class, Peder Nergaard's Baghdad Rejects, of Oslo, Norway, held off Luca Santena's, Joe Fly, of Olgiate Comasco, Italy, with a fifth place finish in today's race to take home the hardware.

Additional class titles awarded today were George David's Idler of Hartford, CT, claiming the IMS class title; and Roger Sturgeon's, Rosebud, of Santa Cruz, CA, and Terrance Smith's, Raincloud, Isle of Palms, SC winning their sixth straight races to secure the PHRF 1 and PHRF 2 classes titles, respectively; and S.A. Spencer's, Triptease, of Miami, FL, winning PHRF 3.

Winners of the following perpetual awards were recognized at the 2003 Acura SORC prize giving ceremony at Monty's:

Acura Trophy for Winner of Team Competition - Team Saltine (Bandolier, Javelin, Caroline)
Mark H. Baxter Trophy (Best Performance by a Farr 40) - Nerone
Florida Governor's Perpetual Trophy (PHRF class, low point boat) - Rosebud
Acura SORC Trophy (Best Performance by a Series Yacht) - Baghdad Rejects

The 2003 Acura SORC completed all ten scheduled races with only a slight delay on Saturday as breeze built just off Miami Beach. "The weather really made the event," said Peter Reggio, Principal Race Officer. "Miami came through with great conditions and we had an awesome week."

Provisional results, Acura SORC, Day 4, March 2, (owner name, boat name, city, state, places, points):

Farr 40:
Massimo Mezzaroma, Nerone, Savon, Italy, 6-3-10-9-1-5-8-4-2-4, 52
Hasso Plattner, Morning Glory, Novato, CA, 4-1-8-14-12-2-1-3-1-8, 54
Robert Hughes, Heartbreaker, Ada, MI, 11-6-3-1-5-10-2-13-4-2, 57

IMS:
George David, Idler, Hartford, CT, 1-1-1-2-2-1-3-1-3-1, 13
Marco Birch, Talisman, New York, NY, 3-4-2-1-4-4-1-4-1-2, 22
Doug Croker, Canvasback, Easton, MD, 4-2-4-4-1-2-4-2-2-3, 24

J-105
Thomas Coates, Masquerade, San Francisco, CA, 1-2-5-1-2-3, 9
Jim Sorenson, Wet Leopard, Sag Harbor, NY, 2-1-1-3-3-5, 10
Donald Priestly, Wet Paint, Mashpee, MA, 3-5-3-4-1-1, 12

Melges 24
Peder Nergaard, Baghdad Rejects, Oslo, Norway, 3-2-2-1-1-1, 7
Luca Santena, Joe Fly, Olgiate Comasco, Italy, 2-1-1-4-2-2, 8
Roger Peacock, Black Seal, Sorognl, England, 10-4-3-3-3-3, 16

Mumm 30
Luigi Parente, Moby Maga Joanna, Naples, FL, 1-4-1-1-7-3, 17
Bent Dietrich, Rainbow, Hamburg, Germany, 7-3-2-3-3-2, 20
David Koski, Go Figure, Highland Heights, OH, 3-2-8-2-1-6, 22

Multihulls
Peter Fruedenberg, Condor, Harvey Cedars, NJ, 1-4-1-2-3-3, 10
Don Mcgetrid, Team Raider, US, Miami, FL, 6-3-5-1-1-1, 11
David Bowman, Ultraviolet, Chelsea, MA, 4-2-3-4-2-2, 13

PHRF 1:
Roger Sturgeon, Rosebud, Santa Cruz, CA, 1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-1, 9
Charles Burnett, III, Bandolier, Seattle, WA, 2-2-2-1-3-3-2-5-3-2, 21

PHRF 2:
Terrance Smith, Raincloud, Isle of Palms, SC, 5-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-1, 10
Geoff Stagg, Tazo, Annapolis, MD, 2-3-10-7-5-2-2-2-3-3, 28
James Bishop, Gold Digger, New York, NY, 8-5-2-1-2-6-8-4-4-7, 39.5

PHRF 3:
S.A. Spencer, Triptease, Miami, FL, 2-1-1-1-2-2-2, 13
Scott Taylor, Defiance, Long Beach, CA, 1-4-6-3-1-2-2-1-1-3, 18
Gordon Ettie, Sazerac, Miami, FL, 3-3-2-2-4-3-3-6-4-1, 25

Boats competing at the Acura SORC raced three-day or four-day series. The Farr 40, IMS and PHRF classes raced from Thursday through Sunday. The Melges 24, Mumm 30, J/105 and Multihulls classes raced Friday through Sunday.

Race management was provided by volunteers from the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, Coral Reef Yacht Club, Miami Yacht Club, Lauderdale Yacht Club and Nassau Yacht Club.

The Acura SORC is an Octagon-managed event. Octagon, an international event marketing company headquartered in Stamford, CT, also manages the Swedish Match Tour, Bermuda Gold Cup and several corporate sailing outings.

Acura SORC
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